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Description

The VIIRS_N21-NAVO-L2P-v3.0 dataset produced by the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) derives the 1-meter depth Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 satellite, renamed as NOAA-21 (N21). N21 was launched on November 10, 2022, the 3rd satellite in the US NOAA JPSS series. <br><br>

VIIRS L2P SST products are derived at the native sensor resolution (~0.75 km at nadir, ~1.5 km at swath edge) using NAVO's Level-2 SST processor version 3.0 (v3.0). Data contains the global near daily-coverage Sea Surface Temperature at 1-meter depth with 750 m (along) x 750 m (cross) spatial resolution in swath coordinates. Each netCDF file has 768 x 3200 pixels in size, in compliance with the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) Data Specification version 2 (GDS2). The data record is available back to Feb. 21 2024. The L2P SST v3.0 is the first release at PO.DAAC derived from the L2P SST processor v3.0, which was upgraded from the v2.0 with several significant improvements in processing algorithms, including contamination detection, cloud detection, and data format upgrades.<br><br>

The product is comparable with the NPP VIIRS L2P (https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/VIIRS_NPP-NAVO-L2P-v3.0) and the N20 VIIRS L2P (https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/VIIRS_N20-NAVO-L2P-v3.0). It also has similar coverage and quality as the NOAA ACSPO VIIRS L2P SST (https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/N21-VIIRS-L2P-ACSPO-v2.80).

Product Summary

Platforms
NOAA-21
Instruments
VIIRS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
750 Meters x 750 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2024-02-21
Data Partner
Naval Oceanographic Office, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD/USNAVY/NAVOCEANO) ,
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C2847232536-POCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
738824
Processing Level
2P
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Sea Surface Temperature

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

DOD/USNAVY/NAVOCEANO. (2024). GHRSST Level 2P NAVO 1 m Depth Global Sea Surface Temperature version 3.0 from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-21 satellite [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/GHN21-2PN30 Date Accessed: 2026-04-17

Documents

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
adi_dtime_from_sst time difference with NAAPS forecast hour byte -128 -127 to 127 0.1 N/A
aerosol_dynamic_indicator Aerosol optical depth provided from the Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) global aerosol prediction system. count byte -128 -127 to 127 0.006 0.75
brightness_temperature_4um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 3.7 um channel VIIRS M12 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
brightness_temperature_11um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 10.8 um channel VIIRS M15 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
brightness_temperature_12um non L2P core field; brightness temperature for 12.0 um channel VIIRS M16 kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
dt_analysis Deviation from NAVOCEANO 10-km SST gridded field (K10) kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.1 N/A
l2p_flags no retrieval made on land or ice. SST over lakes and river are not identified N/A short N/A 0 to 2047 1 N/A
lat Latitude of retrievals degrees_north float N/A -90 to 90 1 N/A
lon Longitude of retrievals degrees_east float N/A -180 to 180 1 N/A
quality_level Based on NAVOCEANO reliability estimates N/A byte -1 0 to 5 1 N/A
satellite_zenith_angle satellite zenith angle angular_degree byte -128 -127 to 127 1 N/A
sea_surface_temperature SST obtained by regression from buoy measurements at 1 m depth kelvin short -32768 -5000 to 5000 0.01 273.15
sses_bias Updated daily based on previous month match-ups kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.01 N/A
sses_standard_deviation Updated daily based on previous month match-ups kelvin byte -128 -127 to 127 0.01 1
sst_dtime time to be added to the reference time to determine actual time of retrieval second short -32768 -32767 to 32767 0.25 N/A
time seconds since 1981-01-01 00:00:00 seconds since 1981-01-01 00:00:00 int N/A N/A 1 N/A
wind_speed wind speed is not available m s-1 byte -128 -127 to 127 0.15 N/A
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